Control valve

ABSTRACT

A fluid power control valve for use with pneumatic or hydraulic pressurized working fluids or a combination thereof comprising a three way valve including a spool with symetrically opposing pistons of differential area at spool extremities of which a small piston of the spool end faces the fluid entrance port whereas the opposite spool end with large diameter piston is blocked from fluid contact by a seal of a centrally situated control rod which passes the spool and protrudes to the outside through the valve end closure for actuation to facilitate shifting of the spool from a valve open first position for cylinder pressurization by the working fluid which moves the spool and the rod assembly sealed toward the end closure constituting a stop, to a second closed position upon actuation of the control rod in terms of a slight motion accompanied by seal cracking and supply of the fluid via clearance hole of the rod to enter behind the large piston of the spool for immediate spool return to the original first position, simultaneously exhausting cylinder and relieving fluid pressure from behind the large piston upon the completion of the cycle, so constructed that the shift of the spool for cylinder actuation can be accomplished externally with very little force to physically move the control rod either manually, by a cam of an electric timer, by pilot pressure of added pilot cap or by other means involving as little as possible axial motion in rod travel, conditions unattainable with other valve designs in existance, other means comprising the automatic self-regulated valve operation with rod end striking a blind end closure for cracking seal to initiate fluid communication behind the large piston and the subsequent shift of the spool for self-reciprocation of the valve without external actuation.

United States Patent Pauliukonis 51 Oct. 10, 1972 CONTROL VALVE [72] Inventor: Richard S. Pauliukonis, 6660 Greenbriar Drive, Cleveland, Ohio 44130 [22] Filed: Jan. 25, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 109,242

[52] US. Cl ..137/625.6

[51] Int. Cl ..Fl6k 11/07 [58] Field of Search l37/6 25.6, 625.66

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,641,279 6/1953 Baldwin ..137/625.6 2,964,057 12/1960 Dyson ..137/625.6

Primary Examiner-Henry T. Klinksiek [57] ABSTRACT A fluid power control valve for use with pneumatic or hydraulic pressurized working fluids or a combination thereof comprising a three way valve including a spool with symetrically opposing pistons of differential area at spool extremities of which a small piston of the spool end faces the fluid entrance port whereas the blocked from fluid contact by a seal of a centrally situated control rod which passes the spool and protrudes to the outside through the valve end closure for actuation to facilitate shifting of the spool from a valve open first position for cylinder pressurization by the working fluid which moves the spool and the rod assembly sealed toward the end closure constituting a stop, to a second closed position upon actuation of the control rod in terms of a slight motion accompanied by seal cracking and supply of the fluid via clearance hole of the rod to enter behind the large piston of the spool for immediate spool return to the original first position, simultaneously exhausting cylinder and relieving fluid pressure from behind the large piston upon the completion of the cycle, so constructed that the shift of the spool for cylinder actuation can be accomplished externally with very little force to physically move the control rod either manually, by a cam of an electric timer, by pilot pressure of added pilot cap or by other means involving as little as possible axial motion in rod travel, conditions unattainable with other valve designs in existance, other means comprising the automatic self-regulated valve operation with rod end striking a blind end closure for cracking seal to initiate fluid communication behind the large piston and the subsequent shift of the spool for self-reciprocation of the valve without external actuation.

opposite spool end with large diameter piston is 10 Claims,4Drawing Figures Q 3 70 1: 15 lL CONTROL VALVE The present invention provides a control valve for transmitting pressurized fluid from fluid supply to a receiver such as actuating power cylinder or a reciprocator converting pressure energy into linear motion, with exhaust means in a housing for escape or return of the fluid transmitted by simple means which comprise an actuating rod properly sealed and exposed to the outside for valve actuation with minimum of effort and travel.,It is obviously desirable to provide devices of this type which require less than minimum travel conventional valving entails with practically no force and without springs, enabling simple, inexpensive and reliable means for control of machines or operations in process or automation fields. For example, this control rod can be attached to a cam of an electric timer directly for subsequent sequential valve operation which controls heavy duty pumping system, employing reciprocating pumps, automatically enabling pump actuator-power cylinder to receive and become energized by the working fluid be it pressurized shop air or hydraulic fluid. In another application, by incorporating a pilot cap to the end closure of the springless control valve, the system may become pilot operated by pneumatic means at low pressure while the actuator is energized by a hydraulic fluid, and constituting system operation which includes a combination of fluids, namely air acting as a trigger for the valve and hydraulic fluid acting as a working media. In another case the actuation of the control valve may be synchronized with the action of a punch press, for example, by'incorporation of a simple tripper element which will insure system operation by the working fluid connected to this valve for subsequent transmission to a work piece, be it a clamp, a pump or anything else desired. It also can be made automatic self-reciprocator.

These and other objects & the advantages of the invention will become more fully apparent from the following description of the embodiment of the invention, taken together with the accompanying drawings.

In the Drawings:

FIGS. l-a and l-b illustrate cross sectional views of the device embodying the invention combined with position change of a spool and representing a control valve.

FIG. 2 shows a cross-sectional view of the control valve representing design variation in that the rod actuation is performed by an added piston which is exposed to a pilot pressure, the pilot cap being the only difference between the designs of FIGS. 1-11, l-b and 2.

FIG. 3 shows a blind end closure to actuate automatically the rod.

Shown in FIGS. 1-11 and l-b is a valve housing I having a continuous central bore of different sizes in which bore 2 represents smaller diameter and bore 2-a a larger diameter to receive slidably a spool 3 drilled with a central hole 3-a and with symmetrically opposing pistons of differential area of which small piston 4 of the spool one end faces the fluid entrance port 5 while the opposite spool end receives larger diameter piston 6, both pistons conforming to the diameters of the valve body bores within clearances necessary to enable spool shifting from the position (1) shown in FIG. l-a to the position (2) identified in FIG. l-b. Appropriate seals 7 and 7-a permanently secured over respective pistons divide the valve proper into the inlet chamber 20 and exhaust chamber 21 and provide fluid separation enabling directional fluid flow for cylinder actuation and exhaust (Cylinder not shown). Port 8 is provided for cylinder attachment to the valve housing 1, and orifice 8-a permits the fluid communication between the fluid supply and the cylinder when spool is in the position shown in FIG. l-b, before the control rod opens, and the fluid exhaust from the cylinder via annular clearance 9 leading to exhaust port 10 when the spool is in the position shown in FIG. l-a.

A control rod 11 centrally situated inside said hole 3- a of the spool 3 protrudes at one end to the outside via hole 12-a of the end closure 12 allowing subsequent axial motion slidably within said spool and said end closure at will, and terminates at the opposite end inside valve with a rod head 13 large enough to receive a seal 14 of O-ring configuration, said O-ring entering recess 15 of piston 4 for blocking fluid communication between said actuation chamber 20 and said exhaust chamber 21 possible only via central clearance 16 of spool opening 3-a if it were not sealed, until such time as desired to provide flow communication between said chambers 20 and 21.

This can be accomplished simply by slightly forcing rod end 22, externally situated, by physical means available for such action toward the valve until the rod head 13 carrying seal 14 moves away and out of the recess 15 far enough to initiate fluid flow, as shown in FIG. l-b. Cracking seal 14 open permits immediate inrush of the working fluid from chamber 20 to chamber 21 via clearance 16 control rod provides, for a force unbalance to the point that the larger piston becomes governing in force to cause an instantaneous shift of the spool back to the original position as indicated in FIG. l-a, at which time chamber 21 empties via exhaust port 23 provided in the valve. Exhaust ports 10 and 23 may be provided with threads for piping exhaust fluid in case of the need to return working fluids back to the reservoir as may be the case with hydraulic system. Rod end 22 may also terminate inside valve for automatic actuation.

Upon release of the force applied to the rod end 22 to initiate cylinder exhaust, seal 14 returns back into the piston recess 15 by the fluid action over rod head 13 instantaneously closing the clearance opening for further fluid communication between chambers 20 and 21 and thus permitting cycle repetition followed by shifting the spool from the position in FIG. l-a to the position shown in FIG. l-b for cylinder pressurization, subsequent rod actuation for fluid communication with large piston to enable cylinder exhaust, rod releaseand consequent repetition of the controlled cycle for as long as the fluid supply prevails, and the rod end 22 becomes actuated to break the seal 14.

Appropriate seal 24 and seal 25 in the end closure 12 insure sealing the chamber 21 during the pressurization and the shift of the spool to the starting position.

FIG. 2 represents a design variation in which force to the rod end 22 is supplied by the piston 26 conveniently placed into a pilot cap 27 replacing the end closure 12 and constituting the only difference between the designs depicted in FIGS. l-a, l-b and 2. The piston 26 slides over the rod end 22 with ease.

The pilot cap 27 and the piston 26 are provided with O-rings 28 and 29 respectfully to insure proper seal.

Pilot entrance port is identified by 30. The design offers a most simple conversion from mechanical actuating means identified in FIGS. l-a and l-b to pneumatically actuatedpilot operated means shown in FIG. 2 of a control valve subject to this invention.

FIG. 3 represents a design variation in which the force to the rod end 22 is supplied by the travel limitation provided by blind end closure 31 replacing end closure 12 and pilot cap 27 used with designs of FIGS. 1 and 2 respectively. In FIG. 3 the cracking of the seal 14 takes place automatically when the spool becomes shifted from the position (1) shown in FIG. l-a because of action of the working fluid pressure over the end of the piston 4 retaining rod seal 14, to the position (2) shown in'FlG. l-b. The rod end 22 entering an opening identified by 32 will become actuated before the spool of large diameter bottoms against the end closure 31, instantenously cracking the seal 14 and allowing fluid supply to the chamber 21 described .while discussing FIGS. l-a and l-b and in turn initiating the cycle of spool return for cylinder exhaust and subsequent shift of the spool for a continuous cylinder actuation and control automatically. As can be seen from FIG. 3, besides the end closure 31 which is new here, the rest of the control valve is identical to the valve described in discussing FIGS. l-a, l-b and 2, including the length of the rod illustrating the universality offered by this design, although there is no real need for the opening 32 to perform actuation of the rod by the rod end 22 which could easily bottom against the flat inside of the end closure 31 with identical success in valve operation automatically- An Automatic Pumping System constructed for purpose of idea reduction to practice was built incorporating a timer cam for operation of this valve by a cam directly attached to the rod end 22. A remarkable performance with a resultant smoothness in actuation and practically no loss of air as working fluid because of inherently short travel required for rod actuation to induce shift of the spool was experienced, including a seemingly effortless operation during cycling of the system which due to simplicity'in component design yielded a very compact small package unit.

The invention is not restricted to the slavish imitation of each and every one of the details described above which have been set forth merely by way of example with the intent of most clearly setting forth the teachings of the invention. Obviously, devices may be provided which change, eliminate or add certain specific structural detailsvwithout departing from the invention. A typical example may be cited here purposely with references to FIG. 2 in which removal of piston 26 and of rod 11 from spool 3, and plugging the central spool hole 3-a and exhaust port 23 of the valve body would make a pilot operated Normally Open Three Way Valve with practically no effort and in fact employing the same identical components such as valve body, spool and the end closure from stock. This valve can easily be converted to a.Normally Closed threeway valve by reversing connection for fluid inlet to cylinder exhaust and vice versa while the cylinder stays in the same location, providing another new pilot operated three-way valve with case.

What is claimed is:

1. A fluid control valve comprising:

a valve housing having first and second ends interconnected by a bore extending therethrough, said bore having a first diameter portion adjacent said first end extending inwardly therefrom toward said second end and a second diameter portion adjacent said second end extending inwardly therefrom toward said first end and adjoining said first diameter portion with said second diameter portion being larger than said first diameter portion, said first end further being adaPted to be connected to a power fluid supply source;

means for closing said bore at said second end;

a spool member slideably received in said bore, said spool member having a first piston closely received in said first diameter portion and a second piston closely received in said second diameter portion, said spool member being selectively shiftable in response to said power fluid acting against said pistons between a first position with said first piston disposed adjacent said first end and a second position with said second piston disposed in close communication with said closing means adjacent said second end wherein in said first position an exhaust chamber is defined between said second diameter bore, said second piston and said closing means and in said second position an inlet chamber is defined between said first diameter bore, said first end and said first piston, said spool further including a clearance area and a power fluid flow area extending generally longitudinally therethrough;

a control rod including an elongated rod portion and a rod head disposed at one end thereof, said rod portion extending through said clearance area and outwardly from said second piston with said rod head being positioned adjacent said first piston, said rod head being dimensioned to permit fluid blockage of said power fluid flow area;

means for selectively shifting said control rod between a normal blocking position with said rod head blocking power fluid passage through said power fluid flow area to effect movement of said spool from said first to said second position in response to said power fluid acting against said first piston and a flow permitting position with said rod head permitting power fluid passage through said power fluid flow area to effect movement of said spool from said second to said first position in response to said power fluid acting againstsaid second piston;

first means for communicating said power fluid out of said valve from said inlet chamber to a fluid operated mechanism as said spool is shifted from said first to said second position;

second means for communicating said power fluid out of said valve from said exhaust chamber as said spool is shifted from said second to said first position; and,

third means for communicating said power fluid out of said mechanism through said valve as said spool is shifted from said second to said first position.

2. The control valve as defined in claim 1 including first seal means for providing a fluid seal between said first piston andsaid first diameter portion and second seal means for providing a fluid seal between second piston and said second diameter portion.

housing into said exhaust chamber, and said third communicating means comprising a second exhaust port extending through said housing and at least partially into said first diameter portion at the juncture of said first and second diameter portions.

4. The control valve as defined in claim 1 wherein said first piston includes an end face with said rod head being closely received thereagainst in a sealing relationship when said control rod is in said normal blocking position, said clearance area having a larger cross sectional dimension than said rod portion so as to define said power fluid flow area therebetween.

5. The control valve as defined in claim 4 wherein said closing means includes a rod portion receiving area extending therethrough generally coaxial with said clearance area with said rod portion extending therethrough outwardly of said second end.

6. The control valve as defined in claim 5 wherein said shifting means comprises means for selectively applying a force against said rod portion to effect movement of said rod head from said normal blocking position to said flow permitting position against the force of said power fluid in said inlet chamber.

7. The control valve as defined in claim 4 wherein said closing means comprises a pilot cap disposed on said housing at said second end, said pilot cap including a housing defining a pilot piston chamber, a pilot piston slideably received in said pilot piston chamber and a pilot cap operating fluid port adapted to be connected to a power fluid supply source.

8. The control valve as defined in claim 7 wherein said pilot piston is selectively movable in said piston chamber between a first position spaced remote from said second end and a second position spaced adjacent said second end, said shifting means comprising said pilot piston engaging said rod portion during movement thereof from said first to said second position whereby said rod head is moved from said normal blocking position to said flow permitting position.

9. The control valve as defined in claim 4 wherein said shifting means comprises said rod portion engaging said closing means after a predetermined desired interval of movement of said spool from said first toward said second position to thereby force said rod head from said normal blocking position to said flow permitting position as said spool moves further toward said second position.

10. The control valve as defined in claim 9 wherein said closing means includes a rod portion receiving recess therein generally coaxial with said central clearance, said recess including a bottom wall for engagement with said rod portion. 

1. A fluid control valve comprising: a valve housing having first and second ends interconnected by a bore extending therethrough, said bore having a first diameter portion adjacent said first end extending inwardly therefrom toward said second end and a second diameter portion adjacent said second end extending inwardly therefrom toward said first end and adjoining said first diameter portion with said second diameter portion being larger than said first diameter portion, said first end further being adaPted to be connected to a power fluid supply source; means for closing said bore at said second end; a spool member slideably received in said bore, said spool member having a first piston closely received in said first diameter portion and a second piston closely received in said second diameter portion, said spool member being selectively shiftable in response to said power fluid acting against said pistons between a first position with said first piston disposed adjacent said first end and a second position with said second piston disposed in close communication with said closing means adjacent said second end wherein in said first position an exhaust chamber is defined between said second diameter bore, said second piston and said closing means and in said second position an inlet chamber is defined between said first diameter bore, said first end and said first piston, said spool further including a clearance area and a power fluid flow area extending generally longitudinally therethrough; a control rod including an elongated rod portion and a rod head disposed at one end thereof, said rod portion extending through said clearance area and outwardly from said second piston with said rod head being positioned adjacent said first piston, said rod head being dimensioned to permit fluid blockage of said power fluid flow area; means for selectively shifting said control rod between a normal blocking position with said rod head blocking power fluid passage through said power fluid flow area to effect movement of said spool from said first to said second position in response to said power fluid acting against said first piston and a flow permitting position with said rod head permitting power fluid passage through said power fluid flow area to effect movement of said spool from said second to said first position in response to said power fluid acting against said second piston; first means for communicating said power fluid out of said valve from said inlet chamber to a fluid operated mechanism as said spool is shifted from said first to said second position; second means for communicating said power fluid out of said valve from said exhaust chamber as said spool is shifted from said second to said first position; and, third means for communicating said power fluid out of said mechanism through said valve as said spool is shifted from said second to said first position.
 2. The control valve as defined in claim 1 including first seal means for providing a fluid seal between said first piston and said first diameter portion and second seal means for providing a fluid seal between second piston and said second diameter portion.
 3. The control valve as defined in claim 2 including an annular power fluid passage between said first piston and said first diameter portion which extends longitudinally at least between said first seal means and said second piston, said first communicating means comprising a fluid port extending through said hOusing into said inlet chamber, said second communicating means comprising a first exhaust port extending through said housing into said exhaust chamber, and said third communicating means comprising a second exhaust port extending through said housing and at least partially into said first diameter portion at the juncture of said first and second diameter portions.
 4. The control valve as defined in claim 1 wherein said first piston includes an end face with said rod head being closely received thereagainst in a sealing relationship when said control rod is in said normal blocking position, said clearance area having a larger cross sectional dimension than said rod portion so as to define said power fluid flow area therebetween.
 5. The control valve as defined in claim 4 wherein said closing means includes a rod portion receiving area extending therethrough generally coaxial with said clearance area with said rod portion extending therethrough outwardly of said second end.
 6. The control valve as defined in claim 5 wherein said shifting means comprises means for selectively applying a force against said rod portion to effect movement of said rod head from said normal blocking position to said flow permitting position against the force of said power fluid in said inlet chamber.
 7. The control valve as defined in claim 4 wherein said closing means comprises a pilot cap disposed on said housing at said second end, said pilot cap including a housing defining a pilot piston chamber, a pilot piston slideably received in said pilot piston chamber and a pilot cap operating fluid port adapted to be connected to a power fluid supply source.
 8. The control valve as defined in claim 7 wherein said pilot piston is selectively movable in said piston chamber between a first position spaced remote from said second end and a second position spaced adjacent said second end, said shifting means comprising said pilot piston engaging said rod portion during movement thereof from said first to said second position whereby said rod head is moved from said normal blocking position to said flow permitting position.
 9. The control valve as defined in claim 4 wherein said shifting means comprises said rod portion engaging said closing means after a predetermined desired interval of movement of said spool from said first toward said second position to thereby force said rod head from said normal blocking position to said flow permitting position as said spool moves further toward said second position.
 10. The control valve as defined in claim 9 wherein said closing means includes a rod portion receiving recess therein generally coaxial with said central clearance, said recess including a bottom wall for engagement with said rod portion. 